iOS 5.1 'to launch 9 March'

Updated operator profiles issued by Apple recently contain a clue as to the release date of iOS 5.1, it has been claimed.

Updated operator profiles issued by Apple recently contain a clue as to the release date of iOS 5.1, it has been claimed.

The Your Daily Mac blog reckons that 9 March is the date after examining the code of the update profiles, which were intended for operators in Japan, France, Greece, Finland and Sweden.

"By updating the profile on the iPhone, it will make sure that the network connection will work correctly after Apple releases iOS 5.1. The iOS updates are normally rolled out at the same time worldwide, so everyone should expect iOS 5.1 to become available next month," the report states.

The report then takes an understandable logical leap and suggests that Apple could release iOS 5.1 and the third-generation iPad simultaneously. However, it does point out that the 9 March date isn't definite, despite being mentioned in the code (pictured).

iOS 5.1 and the iPad 3 have been mentioned in the same breath many times already, though one blog has suggested that Apple is planning a "strange" event later this month that is not related to the iPad 3 but could be related to iOS 5.1.

It is interesting to note, though, that The Verge has predicted Friday 9 March as a possible release date, with Apple making the announcement of the third-generation iPad on Wednesday 29 February.

"There are 29 days in February this year (it's a leap year), and the 29th falls on a Wednesday (the day on which Apple has announced every other iPad). The iPad 2 was announced on March 2nd, 2011, and made available the following Friday (March 11th).

"If Apple were planning on having these ready for the weekend of March 9th, it seems relatively possible that they could choose that date," The Verge's Joshua Topolsky wrote.